One common reason aneurysmal sacs occur is attributed to the weakening of the arterial wall. Common treatment or medical procedures used to bolster the arterial wall include complicated surgery to open the abdomen and replace a portion of the artery with a graft, or alternately using a stent-graft system to provide endovascular exclusion of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) (or of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA)).
In the process of endoluminal AAA repair using a stent-graft deployment system, a balloon catheter can be used to appropriately seat the graft in a target area. In general, the use of stent-grafts for treatment or isolation of vascular aneurysms and vessel walls which have been weakened by disease (endoluminal repair) are well known. Intraluminal deployment is typically effected using a delivery catheter with coaxial inner (guidewire or balloon catheter) and outer (sheath) tubes arranged for relative axial movement. The stent-graft is compressed and disposed within the distal end of an outer catheter tube and blocked from the sliding away from the tip by the inner tube or a structure connected to the inner tube. The catheter is then maneuvered, typically routed though a lumen (e.g., vessel), until the end of the catheter (and the stent-graft) is positioned in the vicinity of the intended treatment site. To avoid “endoleaks” during initial placement of the stent-graft, the balloon catheter can be used to appropriately seat the stent-graft with the blood vessel wall or walls. It should also be noted that endoleaks can also occur after endovascular exclusion of AAA/TAA since the arterial wall is subject to a drop in muscular resistance as evidenced by the lower resistance of the aneurysmal sac to rupture.
Therefore, a need exists to bolster or strengthen the arterial walls of an aneurysmal sac to counteract the weakening described above.